Merrill Factors

Question: With the collapse of Leahman Brothers, and the buyout of Merrill Lynch? How can people not pay attention to this with the elections? McCain admits (easily admits) that he has NO economic experience. Palin has NO economic experience.. are these not major factors in the 2008 elections. Our economy is crumbling, but people want a Presidential/VP ticket with no experience in economy? Can someone explain that to me?

Answer: Mcclone has said he doesn't think we have a problem, so how could he fix it?

Question: Merrill Lynch and the current economy? How much do you think Merrill Lynch has contributed to the downfall of the economy? I know that no one entity can be blamed but looking at the number of subprime mortgages they gave out would they be one of the bigger factors?

Answer: It is said that they were proportionately a good sized player. The following stmt is merely Wall St. rumor. A number of stakeholders want mgmt changes STAT.

Question: Can anyone assist me in explaining the relevance of elements including Supply and profitability in invest. ban I am working on a presentation that will be given in front of a finance class. I have completed 80% of my speech thus far but am in need of assistance in explaing the relationship between investment banks, such as Merrill Lynch and two categories: Supply and Profitability. Within those two categories there are subcategories. Supply will address the issues of; ease of entry and industry capacity. Profitability will address the issues of; Supply and demand, cost factors, and pricing. Any knowledge of any of the areas would be an amazing help. Thank you.

Answer: First - I believe you need to focus. Use the 1-2-3 Method 1. Tell them what you're going to tell them. I'm going to show you how I believe you need to invest $5,000 to make a return of 25% each year for the next 10 years. (Now you have their attention) 2. Tell Them. First - you have to have $5,000 You must accept the risk of - - - You must realize that the supply of the marketing plan of - - - will only be available for 1 year. You must realize that the demand for this product will be high - so time is of the essence. 3. Tell them what you told them. If you understand my plan (and I'm available for any questions), you will make lots of money, with - - - - risk, and it's available now but may not be available - after 2 years. (My items is called a REIT - real estate investment trust). When I read what you wrote, I didn't hear what you have to say. What I read were words from an economics textbook, and sorry to say it's as boring as ever. Your class and teacher need to hear your focused ideas about what YOU have to say about a precise subject. Just take one point - not a splattering of various economic points. Got it? GOD bless us always. MBA-Boston Univ. CPA-retired

Question: Before we bail out the automakers shouldn't the U.S. Congress mandate a G.E.M. Flex green vehicle strategy? ? In the Chicago Tribune (Obama's Home Town Paper?) we read: Food vs. fuel a global myth By Robert Zubrin and Gal Luft May 6, 2008 In recent weeks, a flood of reports and statements has claimed that the world's biofuel programs—in particular the U.S. corn ethanol effort—is starving poor people around the globe. Even the UN's special rapporteur for the Right to Food decried biofuel production as "a crime against humanity." It seems so obvious: With so much corn being turned into fuel, food shortages must inevitably result, and biofuel programs must be the cause. However, that's completely untrue. Here are the facts. In the last five years, despite the nearly threefold growth of the corn ethanol industry (or actually because of it), the U.S. corn crop grew by 35 percent, the production of distillers grain (a high-value animal feed made from the protein saved from the corn used for ethanol) quadrupled and the net corn food and feed product of the U.S. increased 26 percent. Contrary to claims that farmers have cut other crops to grow more corn, U.S. soybean plantings this year are expected to be up 18 percent and wheat plantings up 6 percent. U.S. farm exports are up 23 percent. America is clearly doing its share in feeding the world. Agriculture is not a zero-sum game. There are 800 million acres of farmland in the U.S., and only about 30 percent of it is actually being used to grow anything. As a result of the ethanol program, the corn price received by farmers doubled over the last five years, causing a huge increase in the amount grown in terms of acreage and yield. The increased demand for food from the hundreds of millions of people in China and India rising out of poverty and moving to a more calorie-rich diet affects the price of food the most. Second is the price of fuel. Higher fuel prices increase the cost of production, transport, wages and packaging, the main cost of retail food. For example, a $3 box of cornflakes contains 15 ounces of corn that cost 8 cents when bought from the farmer. So, farm commodity prices have almost no effect on retail prices. But the effect of oil price increases can be huge. Which brings us to the real culprit: the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. This year, with OPEC-rigged oil prices exceeding $100 a barrel, the U.S. will pay $800 billion for its oil supply, and the world as a whole will pay $3.2 trillion. These figures are both up a factor of 10 from what they were in 1999 and represent a huge regressive tax on the world economy. In this, biofuels have done more good than damage to the poor. According to Merrill Lynch analysts, without biofuel programs, the price of oil would be about $13 a barrel higher than it now is. A $13 savings for each barrel could save the U.S. $65 billion in foreign oil payments. So, rather than shut down biofuel programs, we need to radically augment them, to the point where we can take down the oil cartel. Congress can make this happen by passing a law requiring that all new cars sold in the U.S. be flex-fuel vehicles that can run on any combination of gasoline, ethanol or methanol. The technology costs only about $100 per vehicle. By making America a flex-fuel vehicle market, we will effectively make flex-fuel the international standard. Around the world, gasoline would be forced to compete against alcohol fuels made from a number of sources, including not only commercial crops such as corn and sugar, but cellulosic ethanol made from crop residues and weeds, as well as methanol made from any kind of biomass, coal, natural gas and recycled urban trash. By creating such a fuel market, we can enormously expand and diversify humanity's fuel resource base, protecting all nations from continued economic bleeding and, indeed, in some cases, starvation. That, and not blindly accepting the naysayers' propaganda demanding the preservation of the oil monopoly, should be our course. Robert Zubrin is the author of "Energy Victory: Winning the War on Terror by Breaking Free of Oil." Gal Luft is executive director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security. They are members of the Set America Free Coalition. In the Journal of Energy Security we read: China Takes Gold in Methanol Fuel In 2007 China surpassed Japan as the world’s second largest importer of oil behind the United States. Yet it is not sitting idly by content with increasing oil imports. According to U.S. Methanol Institute President & CEO John Lynn, “China is showing the rest of the world how clean transportation fuels can be made from coal.” Methanol is now a strategic transportation fuel in China and the rest of the world should take note. Call your senator and demand a GEM Flex mandate.

Answer: No. No green BS fuel. There is plenty of oil and natural gas. DRILL, DRILL, DRILL...even in my back yard.